The May 1997 draft Statement of Commitment by Newcastle City Council to Indigenous Australians of the City of Newcastle affirms a new and more comprehensive commitment to Indigenous Australians. It builds upon a Statement of Commitment that was signed in December 1993 by the Lord Mayor and General Manager of Newcastle City Council and by June Mason and Charlie Richards on behalf of the Aboriginal Community of Newcastle.

Detailed Information:

The text of the Commitment states:

'The Council of the City of Newcastle acknowledges that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in this area the Awabakal and Worimi, were the first people of this land and are the proud survivors of more than two hundred years of continuing dispossession.

Newcastle Council recognises that the British invasion initiated massive changes to the land and its people.

As a vital step towards building a just, common future, Newcastle Council recognises the sense of loss and the grief felt by Indigenous people for the alienation from their land, the loss of their freedom, their lives, their languages, their health, the forced removal of their children, and the disruption of their cultural practices.

Newcastle Council supports the right of Indigenous Australians to live according to their own values and culture. We commit ourselves to respect and conserve their sacred sites and significant places.

Newcastle Council will take action to combat racism directed at Indigenous Australians.

The Council recognises the vital importance of the Indigenous contribution to strengthening and enriching our City and Region.

Newcastle Council commits itself to the development of an agreement between local Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians for the care of the local environment.

Newcastle Council supports reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians working together for a treaty and/or other agreements of reconciliation.

Newcastle Council, in consultation with the local Indigenous Australians, will develop an action plan with concrete outcomes to attain justice for the Indigenous Australians of this community.'

To give effect to the Statement and the last paragraph in particular, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel has been set up and Terms of Reference drafted.